Night # 5 in NYC & I sadly find myself sitting on the couch in front of the tele with a tub of Ben & Jerry's 'Fish Food' Ice-cream! For those of you lucky enough to know what I'm talking about......YUM!
Since arriving, it has been a complete whirlwind. Not the first week of New York everyone is expecting me to be having - believe me! It is not all Upper East Side, drinks by the pool, parties right through til morning, and men hanging off every limb. The reality of week number one in NYC has been spending countless hours every day in a relationship with craigslist.com finding an apartment, and then coordinating inspections of the apartments - up to six on any given day. Sounds easier than you may think.
In Sydney, the prospect of going to six inspections on a lazy Saturday is normal. You casually wake up, go to brunch, then hop in the luxury of your car and away you go; hopping from one place to the next. For me it has been a little harder. Still deciding if I want to live in the East Village or Brooklyn has certainly made things harder too, as it has meant hopping back and forth on trains between Manhattan and Brooklyn. And of course, as chance would have it, inspection times always happen to pan out that one will be in Brooklyn, then one in Manhattan, then Brooklyn, then Manhattan, Brooklyn, Manhattan! Exhausting! Plus, inspections can happen on any day, and at any hour. One person wanted to swing by at 11pm Tuesday night!
At least now I am a pro at getting the train! I know which stop I'm hopping on at, which stop I'm getting off at, and even how to get to the station from my (temporary) residence in Brooklyn.
A few quick laughs about my house hunting experiences;
1 - A room in the East Village, which when I arrive, I realise the term East Village has been used VERY loosely. It is at the furthest point of East Village, and is in fact at the edge of Alphabet City; the part of town where things begin to feel a tad sketchy. As I continue walking street by street, further and further from the desirable end of the East Village, I find myself standing opposite the apartment. A group of six large men are sprawled across the front steps that lead up to the building. They have stocking cut-outs, fitted over their bald heads. Tattoos cover every visible inch of skin; which is a lot of skin seeing they all have their shirts off. They are sitting on the steps in such a way, that they have gained complete ownership over the steps and anything beyond the steps. They looked very gang-like, so I continue around the opposite corner and don't look back. I write a text to the owner of the apartment letting them know I won't be coming, as I have found myself another place already. Cheeky.
2 - This is the 6th inspection I have set up, and I have seen a lot of crap by this point. This time on the Lower East Side, and once again the term has been used very, very loosely for the border of China Town. One of the tenants leads me up to the ninth floor...all walk-up stairs...I keep telling myself I love stairs, but this was a lot of stairs. We reach the front door, eventually, and he swings the door open. "Watch your step". There is a ledge right at the front entrance that I have to step over to get into the apartment (hazard for those big nights out). He knocks on the bedroom door where another room mate pops out of. "This will be your room." As in many Manhattan apartments, all that fits in the room is the bed. I don't even know how they managed to maneuver the bed into the room, it is sitting in there so snug. There are odd looking cabinets attached the the walls with her belongings in them. Nails are coming out of the wall at the back of the cabinets (yet another hazard). I can barely see the room due to the amount of clothes and objects flung across the room. I am taken out to the kitchen that looks burnt to a crisp. Literally. I don't think it's safe to cook anything in. "Where is the toilet?" "Down the hall" he replies. "And so it's just you & me then?" "Oh, no, it will be the three of us." Hmmmm. There are only two rooms though. As the feeling of a squatters town hits home, I decide it best to leave the premises immediately!
More stories to follow...
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